Corrugated paper dates to the mid-19th century and corrugated paper for shipping pallets dates to the early 1970's in Japan. Most are based upon multiplying folded corrugated sheets to approximate the wooden stringers of conventional pallets. Wozniacki, U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,558 and Hutchison, U.S. Pat. No. 5,568,774 are representative. Such construction is suitable for most pallets used for shipping consumer items but is difficult to assemble without expensive automation and also difficult to ship in knock-down form.
Corrugated pallets have many advantages. Unlike wooden, plastic, or metal pallets, corrugated can be recycled at the recipient's location as paper/card board and does not have to be returned for reuse. Even so called “pallet pools” ship a lot of air.
Exported pallets pose two problems. Return is nearly impossible and the International Plant Protection Convention, as well as local laws in the EU, China and Australia effectively implement a ban on wood pallets which have not been certified to be fumigated by heat or pressure treatment with chemicals. Corrugated pallets, because of their processing, do not require fumigation and offer clear cost advantages in foreign shipping.
There exists a need for simple corrugated pallet designs which are strong but do not require expensive multiple-step die cutting and folding steps, do not require excessive adhesive to assemble and which can be assembled at the user's site by minimally skilled laborers.